Fun Times at the Beach Reunion

Aug 4 – 11, 2012

We had a great week at Ocean Isle Beach, NC! Lots of yummy food and plenty of relaxing as well as some fun games and activities.

Our first evening there we strolled over to the beach and enjoyed a few minutes of rolling waves and ocean breezes. Travis brought a kite that flew very well, but I didn't get pics of that.
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Unfortunately, after all the kids went to bed that night, Lucy fell off the top bunk onto a tile floor and ended up spending the night at the Brunswick Novant Medical Center, nearby. After some exams and a CT scan, they said she had a closed skull fracture. Fortunately, the fracture will heal on it's own and she just had a swollen, black eye to show for it. Travis stayed with her until she was able to be released the next morning.
The rest of us went to sacrament meeting in the Shallotte Ward Sunday morning, and Laura was able to collect Lucy and Travis from the hospital right after that. (It was fun, and unexpected, to see some people we knew at Church!)

This is Lucy in the CT Scanner.

Here she is in her nightgown at the hospital.

She bounced back pretty quickly, though, and still had a good time on the beach.
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We all played "Name that Ancestor" at our first combined meal Sunday evening, with some table-top cards I made. Each stand up-card had a photo of someone from Bob's family on one side and someone from my family on the other. It was fun to look at them, talk about them, and discover some family resemblances. Later we had Family Home Evening, with cookies and milk for treats.
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Monday, we enjoyed our first full day of hanging out at the beach. Then, for dinner, we went to the Giggling MacKerel, on the OIB inlet by the bridge—and enjoyed some local seafood.

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On Tuesday, Heather and I cooked for Taco night at the house and after dinner, everyone competed in the first-ever Crensh-Olympic Games! Laura was in charge of this activity. She divided us into three teams and gave each team a clue card. We had to figure out where to go based on the different clues, then drive to each location and find what she'd hidden. It was lots of fun (and, we discovered how SERIOUSLY competitive some family members are!) After we'd collected all the items, we met at the beach and held team competitions using the things we'd found. There was something suitable for every age. (i.e. Every team included someone who was age 2, or under. That group competed to see who could pull all the tissues out of a box the fastest.) In another game, one "Olympian" from each team had to tie an empty tissue box around his/her waist, fill it with ping pong balls, then shake their bodies to see who could get all the balls out fastest. After the first three competitions, it was getting dark, so we held the last two challenges back at the house.

For one of those final challenges, one team member wore a shower cap covered in whipped
cream while someone else threw Cheese Curls at his/her head. Whoever got
the most curls to stick, in a set amount of time, won. Sophia didn't mind
having the cheese curls tossed at her.
Each of the three competitors for every event was awarded a gold-, silver-, or bronze-like medal for their efforts.
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On Wednesday we drove to Myrtle Beach, SC and visited the aquarium and other Broadway-at-the-Beach sites. Most of us had lunch at Joe's Crab Shack. They had a guy making some awesome balloon animals, so the kids got some of those. Then, we visited Wee R Sweetz to buy some great salt-water taffy. Finally, on the way out, we took some silly pics at Tiki Jims!

John, Susy and Laura made a fabulous Lasagna dinner after we got back to OIB and we had a fun Family Talent Night. Heather coordinated everything and made a program for the evening's entertainment. Several of the children danced or did gymnastics; Bob and I did a silly pantomine of me painting his picture while he hammed it up; Susy and Todd did a skit with Lily that was hilarious. Lily and Todd where behind a sheet with Lily's head and Todd's arms sticking out. Lots of laughs! (Our kids used to do this kind of thing a lot when we lived in Indiana.); Amanda amazed everyone with her round-off and tumbling skills; John demonstrated how to properly dice an onion; Laura played the "Penny Flute" — her Penny, that is. (She held her and blew on her.); Travis showed his "directing" skills; and, Mark played guitar while he and Heather sang. (Then, Mark was carried away by ants!) Such remarkable talent our family members have!!
How I regret not having my camera with me! I only have a pic I took of the painting I did ahead of time for my skit with Bob. It's called "Papaw at the Beach"

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Susy helped coordinate family pictures and Thursday morning we got up bright and early for photos on the beach. We had rain off-and-on for most of the week and this turned out to be the best time to do them. Most of the pics we took with our digital cameras, but the one of the whole group I did with my old film camera on a tripod, set for time-delay. The down side was that I had to click it, then run like crazy to get in the picture in time. After about the third one, some people nearby started cheering and clapping every time I made the dash for the pic. We ended up with some good shots, though.

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On Friday, some of the family went to the beach again, and John, Amanda, Abby, Bob and I drove to the end of our street to play miniature golf. Of course, I'd never brag, but, I WON! Afterward, we met up with Heather and Mark at the Causeway Gourmet cafe for lunch. Great food!

We wrapped up our final day with ice cream sundaes in the evening.
And, by 10 am, Saturday, we were all on our way back to Wake County, NC.

We really missed two of our sons and our three oldest grandkids, who couldn't be with us this week. Hoping it works out that everyone can be together for a future family reunion.